


you make me feel safer with every word you say

by LexTheMoose



Series: Tumblr Prompts [7]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Halloween prompt, Haunted Houses, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 12:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21161753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexTheMoose/pseuds/LexTheMoose
Summary: Based on the prompt "I paid $40 so I better die."Ryan and Shane visit a haunted house.Guess who gets terrified.





	you make me feel safer with every word you say

**Author's Note:**

  * For [poetdameron](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetdameron/gifts).

> I wrote way more than I wanted to and that always seems to happen to me, but oh well, enjoy!
> 
> Don't forget to leave comments/kudos and thank you if you just gave this a read!  
Find me on tumblr: kingspapercrown.tumblr.com

Dread settles over Ryan as soon as they pass the entrance of the haunted house. It's something new and albeit a bit expensive, only available for about a week in this part of LA, a special little thing to put everyone in the mood for Halloween that's approaching rapidly.

So when Shane brought up the idea that they should check it out Ryan agreed without hesitation. He loves everything spooky, after all. Loves the adrenaline rush of watching a classic horror movie, or walking into a dusty old place with a history he was spilling over, deep in hours upon hours of research. 

Still, appreciating the scare after he's safe and sound in their hotel room, or stumbling into Shane's arms lately after the shooting of a particularly difficult to deal with episode is very different from experiencing the damn thing right at the moment with all of his senses and nerves on fire and on edge.

He scoots closer to Shane, just barely, like he's being all smooth and nonchalant, like the place doesn't scare the living shit out of him already, but he still has some pride left, goddammit.

"They weren't kidding in all those ads, huh?" He asks just to break the silence as Shane takes his hand. He reads Ryan so well, he always does. 

The warmth of Shane's big hand on his, their fingers twining together eases something inside him. They officially stepped over the line they've been tiptoeing around for months, years even almost a week ago now, but Ryan's is stomach still does a little flip when they touch each other like this when Shane smiles at him like Ryan is something precious.

"Looks about as most locations we've been to. Maybe a little dirtier. But then again, it's fake dirt so it doesn't count."

"I read someone got a heart attack while trying to complete this." Ryan goes on as he starts walking finally, even though his legs still feel incredibly heavy and his fight and flight senses are yelling at him to get out. 

"That's probably bullshit! I'd say that too if I'd own the place, people love a good story." Shane scoffs as he squeezes Ryan's hand, there is a hint of encouragement in it. 

It doesn't do much to ease his mind as he's trying to make out anything at the end of the hallway, it being just dark enough to fuzz his vision and make shadows and shapes form, taunting him. Regardless, Ryan appreciates the sentiment.

"Say what you want dude, I already feel like I'm on the edge of a heart attack and we barely walked two minutes." Ryan laughs, it sounds nervous and a little hysterical even to his own ears. He can't believe he's losing it already from a poorly lit grimy corridor.

"I paid $40 for this shit, so I better die."

"Shane!" Ryan wheezes again and the icy grip on his heart lets go just a tiny bit. He sees Shane smiling like he always does when Ryan laughs at his jokes, there is a lazy satisfaction to it and he looks almost proud.

Especially when he's about to freak out and Shane pulls him back from the edge with a little quip that's not even that funny but it's familiar. It says _I care about you and I want to take your mind off the thing that scares you_ or _I'm here and nothing bad will happen, everything is okay_. 

It's one of the many reasons why Ryan is so in love with him.

They take a turn at the end of the hallway where nothing was waiting for them, thank fucking god. Although, the dead quiet that's only interrupted by their footsteps might be slightly worse.

About half-way through this nightmare place Ryan never ever wants to experience again, he had to realize Shane didn't pay $40 to die. He paid to have Ryan cling to him for thirty minutes straight and he seemed completely okay with that. The bastard knew what will happen all along.

Despite that, Ryan wasn't complaining either, he's been tightly pressed against Shane's side like they've been glued together, They've been walking like that ever since a clown with the creepiest facepaint he had ever seen just leaned out of a window right in front of him. Shane laughed like it was the funniest thing he's ever seen and Ryan refused to even touch him for a whole three minutes until another guy started getting uncomfortably close.

They're still barely twenty minutes in and Ryan's shaking, clutching at Shane's denim jacket as he's desperately trying to think of anything else but the thin, pale girl following them for more than ten minutes now. Ryan heard the quiet footsteps that belonged to none of them and almost shit himself when he glanced behind and spotted her. She almost looked normal, like she could be a guest too if it wasn't for her zombie-like appearance and dead eyes. She was a damn good actor, that's for sure. The constant looming presence of her behind them puts Ryan on edge as nothing else did before.

But Ryan thought that's probably the point. It's a very good scare tactic and he honest to God thinks this is the best use of 40 bucks he could ever spend. 

Shane's long arm wrapped around his shoulder proves to be a good distraction, just like the occasional small kisses he presses into Ryan's hair. Ryan is hot, probably sweating profusely, he's gonna be all gross when they finally emerge but Shane's a warm solid presence next to him, reminding him that everything is okay as long as Shane's there.

Shane pulls him close when Ryan jumps a little too much after an actor gave them a good spook, startling even Shane, but he takes it like it's barely anything and Ryan admires that, even though he doesn't quite understand it. He's dating a fucking demon.

"I don't know how you do it. How am I the only one freaking out here?" He says softly, painfully aware of how thin his voice is.

"I am too, a little," Shane admits. "But I'm also too preoccupied with keeping your heartrate just low enough so you won't die on me and your little ghost won't get stuck in a place like this. It'd be depressing."

"Well, you're doing a good job." Ryan lets out a shaky laugh and then stops dead in his tracks. He was about to tease Shane about admitting to the existence of ghosts when he felt a cold hand at the back of his neck like someone was slowly dragging up a finger from his spine to the base of his skull. 

It couldn't have been Shane, his arm is currently wrapped around Ryan's shoulders, rubbing tight little circles on his upper arm. And when Ryan realizes that, he fucking lets out a yelp, yanking a very startled Shane down with the motion of hooking his arms around his neck.

"What-? What happened?" Shane doesn't hesitate for a moment to envelop him in a tight hug, sounding actually concerned now.

"Something touched my neck! I felt it. Fuck this, I cant- I hate this place, we need to get the fuck out, Shane." Ryan can barely form a coherent thought, the words just stumble out of his lips, nearly drowned out by the pounding of his heart in his ear.

Two big, warm hands cup the sides of his as Ryan blinks once and then twice, finally seeing Shane clearly in front of him, goofy smile and all, but eyes full of concern.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Shane asks, lips twitching when he uses the nickname like he didn't quite mean to say that, it just happened. Which seemed to be a theme when it comes to their relationship, Ryan thinks.

Ryan didn't mean to throw all his previous fear out the window and kiss Shane at the office party celebrating the end of another amazing and successful season. It just happened. The cocktails he had certainly helped, but it's been building for a while, and it didn't matter they both were a little tipsy.  
  
It didn't matter that Ryan squarely missed Shane's lips and ended up pressing his lips against his chin because Shane's _too goddamn tall_ and can't take a fucking hint to _just lean down_ when Ryan is finally brave enough to make a move on him.

To be fair, Shane did, eventually, only for both of them to start laughing against each other's lips, hardly doing any kissing at all.

But it was surprisingly easy to ask him out after that and take the same bed in their shared hotel room, tangled up, being brave enough to do so now, going to sleep with the promise of dinner together the next day. Just the two of them. 

And that's the thing, everything is so easy with Shane around, even calming the fuck down when something that didn't quite feel human for sure touched Ryan's neck.

Ryan wraps his hands around Shane's wrists, Shane's hands are still on his face, his thumbs gently stroking Ryan's cheeks, always so so patient when it comes to calming him down and Ryan's heart flutters happily.

"Yeah, sorry. Got a little lost in my head. Did you just call me sweetheart?" He asks with that special smile of his that's only for the occasions of teasing Shane. It works every single time flawlessly.

"Apparently, I did. Any complaints?" He raises his eyebrows, in a challenge, just what Ryan expected. Ryan responds in a way he would've done the exact opposite of many years ago. He would've laughed and pushed him away, mumbling some nervous half-joke about Shane being weird. Right now, however, he's pulling Shane down once again, kissing him shamelessly.  
  
It's messy and desperate, probably at least a little inappropriate for the time and place, but it's a distraction for his frayed nerves.

"No complaints here, big guy." Ryan murmurs before giving him a last peck on the lips, satisfied with the slightly stunned phase he left Shane in. He wishes he could see him flush. "We should go, I'm okay. Let's fucking finish this bad boy so I never have to think about this place ever again."

Ryan's legs almost give in relief as the last hallways start to get a little brighter than the rest of this terror maze. They made it, they reached the end. To celebrate that fact Ryan stops and pulls his phone out, trying to find the perfect angle that captures them both.

"Are you taking a selfie with me right now?" Shane laughs, brightly, eyes crinkling and there it is, Ryan quickly takes the photo. It's perfect. "You were hyperventilating not even five minutes ago." Shane points out, one hand slipping around Ryan's waist, a move that became natural for them both quickly, that's evident by the way Ryan melts against him immediately.

They're stumbling out into the sunlight, their positions making it a bit difficult to walk, but none of them wants to let go. They're flying high in their honeymoon phase, often annoying their friends and co-workers, but it's nothing new, really, they've been doing that ever since they've known each other, getting lost in their little bubble way too often. It's just a lot grosser now, as TJ kindly pointed it out after their latest Post Mortem. 

Shane's lips curl into a big grin and Ryan can feel the warmth of his face where it's pressed against his shoulder when Ryan angles the screen so he can see it. The picture of them in Ryan's Instagram story, captioned with 'we're finally out of this hellhole. my boyfriend is the devil.'

Calling Shane his boyfriend publicly gives him a bigger rush than any haunted house or horror movie in the world could. He guesses Shane feels the same if the tightening of his arms around Ryan's waist and the big kiss pressed onto the base of his neck mean anything.  
  
"It wasn't that scary, you know. Could've been worse." Ryan says after they've finally started walking away, hands joined, lazily swaying between them. He laughs bright and loud at Shane's incredulous expression and how he sputters, calling him out immediately.

"Why the hell were you freaking out then, huh? Wasn't that scary my ass..." He huffs, slightly shaking his head, like he just can't believe this guy.

"Alright, that lady following us was fucking creepy. Maybe she was the one who touched my neck." Ryan reaches up to brush at the spot on the back of his neck. He can still feel it. Shane frowns at him though, quietly and looking very confused. It sends a chill down Ryan's spine, dread gripping at his heart again when he says the exact thing Ryan was afraid he'd say. He didn't even notice they both stopped walking.

"What lady?"

"What do you mean what lady?! She was following us for like ten minutes straight! Don't tell me you didn't notice her." His voice goes high, and he feels like he might throw up and Shane has the audacity to shrug, infuriatingly nonchalant.

"Huh, must've missed her." He says and starts walking again, leaving Ryan frozen in place for several seconds before having to run to catch up with those ridiculously long legs.

"Shane, don't fucking do this to me, you had to have seen her! You fucking asshole!" He adds when Shane only answers with a delightful laugh.


End file.
